Life After Perfect

by Nancy Naigle

  “I really don’t see you having a bunch of dogs in the house,” Ron said.

  “Don’t tell me what I want and don’t want, Ron. Not only are you a liar and a cheat, but you are selfish. We didn’t go on vacation or even see each other during the week because we were both working so many hours. We didn’t make memories. We just made money. How was I so blind?”

  “Don’t exaggerate.”

  “I’m not. You want to know what woman gives up that kind of life? The good life, as you put it?” Katy paused, sucking in a long breath. “A smart woman. I did!”

  “Katy, I can escort him out. Or I can call the police,” said Derek.

  “Katy?” Ron chuckled. “He calls you Katy. You can’t just run away and pretend you’re someone else.” He turned and looked at Derek. “Her name is Katherine. Katherine Barclift.”

  Ron looked back at Katherine. “This whole Katy business is ridiculous. I ought to have a psych eval done on you.”

  “You no longer have the ability to do that. And this is not about anyone but you and me.” She marched right up to him and pushed her hands against Ron’s chest. “Leave. Get out of my life. I left you. Katherine left you. Katy left you. Whoever I’d become was happy enough just sailing through day to day in a life that really had nothing to do with you anyway. You were barely there. If you’d loved me, you wouldn’t have cheated.”

  “It was hard on me too.”

  “Don’t give me that.” It was almost hard to look at the man. “You know what . . . fine, I’ll give that to you. Poor Ron. So hard to be a faithful partner when the going gets rough. You’re the one who needs counseling. You cheater.”

  “I’d be real careful where you’re casting stones right now, Katherine. I have a feeling,” he glanced over at Derek, “that we might just be even.”

  “Love isn’t a game. You don’t keep score. I’m gone. It’s over. I’m never coming back. I will live my life on my terms. And if I choose to have someone share it, it will not be someone like you.”

  Ron lifted his chin.

  “Leave now. Or so help me, I will have Derek call the police and I will press charges. Do you hear me?”

  Ron Barclift turned and stormed out of the room.

  Naomi looked like she didn’t know whether to chase him down the hall or duck, but she decided which way to go pretty quickly because she was hot on his heels and slammed the door behind him as he stepped out on the porch.

  They all walked out to the living room. Katy, Derek, Angie, and Naomi.

  “You came back,” Katy said to Derek.

  He glanced at Naomi. “Someone called and said you needed help.”

  “You didn’t have to come.”

  “Friends help friends. It’s how small towns work.”

  She was hesitant, but she wanted to be in his arms. He stepped closer and took her hand in his. At least it was a start.

  “Well, there sure is enough stuff broken right now,” Naomi said. “It’s like we’re under a black cloud or something. People sick, marriages falling apart, cars breaking down, storms, people out of work. I think it’s time for a good change around here.”

  Katy sat down on the couch, her hands still shaking from the whole scene. “Thank you all for being here for me. I’m not sure if he’d have left so amicably without your support.”

  Angie said, “I can’t really imagine you married to him.”

  “Ten years. We were college sweethearts. People grow. Change. And then some don’t.” Katy wondered what made the path diverge for people who started out traveling the same one. It seemed odd, but then maybe you can’t change a person’s real destiny.

  Todd came out into the living room. The hospice nurse had left earlier, and he usually stayed with Kelly Jo until hospice came back.

  “She’s gone,” he said.

  Angie was the first to fold into Todd’s arms, and he clung to her like a child holding tight to a favorite stuffed animal.

  Naomi ran to Kelly Jo’s room as if she could bring her niece back.

  Tears fell down Katy’s cheeks: a combination of relief for Kelly Jo, and sorrow for the grieving Todd had just begun.

  Kelly Jo and Todd had had such a beautiful and unselfish relationship. Then there were the Rons and Tuckers of the world. They had no idea what they had. Derek’s story. Naomi’s. Angie’s. Peggy’s and even Bertie’s. None of it was simple.

  Life is precious—every day, every step of it—and sometimes it changes.

  Tomorrows were treated like a right, when really, you never knew how many you would have. She’d wasted a lot of them herself.

  Derek wrapped his arms around Katy, and she buried her face into his chest. His warm embrace comforted her, but she knew he needed comforting too.

  A few minutes later, the hospice team came back in. They went straight into action, taking care of things and comforting all of them.

  Naomi sat on the couch. Katy and Angie each sat on either side. Todd and Derek walked outside. Derek stood by as Todd walked out to the creek and kicked one of the fence posts along the way. He was mad. Derek knew the feeling.

  The funeral home director showed up shortly after.

  Derek walked out to the dock. “Do you want to see her again before they take her away?” Derek suspected Todd would want to have the funeral back in their town.

  Todd sucked in a breath noisily and waved his arm as he shook his head. “Can’t.”

  Derek stood there for a moment. “It’s okay, man. You were here with her when she needed you. You gave her everything she wanted. You did the right thing.”

  Todd shook his head again, but never turned around.

  “I’m so sorry you’re going through this.” Derek turned and walked back up to the house. He let the guy from the funeral home know that he could take her away, and then he stood and watched as a few moments later she was wheeled on a small gurney out the front door.

  Kelly Jo was so tiny that it looked like the gurney was empty. Todd watched them leave from the dock and then made his way back up to the house.

  Derek held the door open for him. “Come on.”

  Angie brought him a glass of sweet tea. “Here.”

  He took a sip. “Thanks.” With tears in his eyes, he said, “Thank you. All of you for being a part of Kelly Jo letting me come back here. For all we’ve been through, I wouldn’t have traded one moment with her, not even knowing how short a time it would be.”

  Derek rubbed his hand across his cheek and chin.

  “Life is fragile,” Angie said.

  “She had everything figured out. Everything.” Todd’s voice shook.

  Angie wrapped her arms around him. “We’re all here for you. For her. You won’t go through this alone.”

  “I’m not ready for her to be gone, but at least we got to discuss all the plans. The way she wanted things. I still feel her here.”

  “We’d talked about it too, Todd,” Naomi said. “She wanted to make it easy, but that was an impossible task. The mechanics are easy. Cremation. No big event. All of that. But the emotions, our hearts, those are impossible to prepare.” She swept at her tears with a handkerchief. “Grief can consume you. The best we can do is share the sorrow, not giving it the strength to swallow us whole.”

  “Thank you, Naomi.” Todd’s words were choked.

  Naomi turned to Derek. “It’s not so unlike what you were talking about with your retreat. For the doctors. Or what Marshall did for his friends. It’s about hope. It’s about finding strength with the help of those around us. There are times when we need strength. We need each other more than ever right now.”

  Angie wrapped her arms around Naomi’s arm. “Yep. It’s about being there for each other.”

  “Having faith that together we can get through it,” Katy said, looking to Derek with hope in her heart.

 
Chapter Twenty-Three

  Two weeks later, Katy had interviewed for the position of festival and tourism coordinator in Boot Creek and been made an offer. It was a one-year contract, and she was fine with that. It would give her a chance to try it on for size, and she wanted to be agile . . . to be able to try and do new things if she wanted to.

  She was itching to get busy with her new life. Like a thirsty tree lifting its leaves to receive the first gentle raindrops of an overdue rain, she wanted to get started. Full of hope and a renewed energy to live. Unsure of how she’d fit in on a long-term basis in the small town, this seemed like a good way to not only test the waters of the job, but what it would be like being with Derek. Being near Angie and Naomi had appeal too.

  Shaleigh assured her that the divorce would be behind her quickly.

  Things were moving in the right direction, like the current in the creek. Never stopping, just working its way around the rocks and tree limbs, forging ahead but nourishing everything in its path.

  Angie, Derek, and Katy sat at the long dining room table with Naomi poised at the head.

  “I brought y’all together because I have a proposition that I think can work for everyone,” Naomi said.

  Katy wasn’t sure what that meant, and by the looks on Derek’s and Angie’s faces, they were just as much in the dark.

  “Lonesome Pines has been my home. I shared this place with the love of my life. We had so many wonderful years here that although it’s way too big for me, I’ve never been able to consider selling it. Marshall loved this place and the sanctuary that it was for the people he cared about.

  “Derek and Katy, you two remind me of Marshall and me when we first fell in love.” Naomi raised a hand. “Don’t deny it. And if you really think you aren’t, well you get back to me in a couple of months, because I can see it clear as day.”

  Katy tried to hold back a nervous giggle. She had hopes that there was maybe something in the future for her and Derek. But the truth was, she needed to be okay by herself before she could try it with anyone else. She was fine with taking time to figure it out, and it sure was no secret that he was still working through things, too.

  But Derek reached his hand under the table and put it on her leg.

  Maybe he was feeling the same way.

  Naomi steepled her fingers. “You dig in while I talk. I nibbled the whole time I cooked anyway.”

  Angie picked up a spoon and held out her hand for Naomi to pass her plate. “Works for me.”

  “Derek, I really like what you were saying about your idea for a retreat for doctors. It’s not so unlike what Marshall did. I think it could be even broader than just for doctors, though. Like Marshall, you could do good things with this place.”

  “What are you saying, Naomi?” Katy’s wheels were turning. The project plan was already forming milestones in her mind. “That you want to repurpose Lonesome Pines Inn?”

  “It would take a lot of people to make it work, but I believe we could do it. I’ve got the place. I’ve got funding. I’ve got all of you.”

  “Like a partnership?” Derek asked.

  “A business. Angie has the customer-service skills to handle any situation, and the cooking chops too. Katy, you can manage the whole darned project and daily operations. Derek, you run the program. You ensure that we set the stage and environment for proper health. Both mental and physical. And I’ll need all of you to help me move.”

  “Move?” Everyone muttered it at the same time.

  “Well, I’m thinking that instead of having an old gal like me rambling around here all the time, I could offset part of the price if Derek moves me into his house. Now that he’s gotten rid of those tacky pink shutters, it’s quite cute. I’ll be on hand for whatever you need. I’ll consult. It’s what I do best anyway.” Naomi paused to let them soak in the details. “Derek. I want to invest in this project. Financially, physically, and with every beat of my heart. I’m not getting any younger, and other than Nell, I don’t have any family. Losing Kelly Jo, well I want to be sure I put what I have left to good use.”

  Angie looked at Derek. “You haven’t said anything. What are you thinking?”

  “That I think this plan has a lot of potential. Not just for me personally, but for the town.”

  “So, you like the idea?” Katy held her hands together, praying for a yes.

  He stood up and stretched. “I’m beyond happy. I had control over making that connection with you, Katy, at the gas station. I saw you, and I don’t know why, but I had to talk to you.”

  She remembered that moment. She remembered trying to ignore him too.

  “We were drawn together by fate. I’m thankful for that,” she said.

  “But everything that has happened since then has not been on purpose or in my control. It’s meant to be. You’ve given me a new outlook on things.”

  Angie reached for Naomi’s hand. “It’s true. Derek, I haven’t seen you like this in a long time.”

  Naomi said, “I believe this special group here can make a difference. We can. Don’t you think?”

  “You are such a wonderful spirit. Being here with you has truly changed my life. Another chance connection,” Katy said.

  Naomi pulled out a stack of papers. “I had my attorney pull together a short agreement. It’s nothing fancy, but if each of you agrees, then I think we can make this work. You in, Katy?”

  “I’m in. I’m so in. You know, all I ever wanted was the happy ending, and I was beginning to convince myself that there wasn’t any such thing. I think I might have found it.”

  “No.” Derek shook his head and Katy’s stomach dropped. “There aren’t happy endings, Katy. I know that for a fact.”

  The joy she’d felt just one tiny moment ago sank to the pit of her stomach. Maybe she’d been wanting it too badly. Hadn’t seen the truth for what it was. Again.

  “Happily ever afters don’t end.” He took her hand in his. “True love never ends. So, see you’ve been doing it all wrong.” He looked into her eyes, hoping she felt the same way. Needing her to. “I know this is fast, but it feels so right.”

  He was right. It didn’t feel new. It felt like it had always been out there waiting for them to just find it. Her lips parted into a smile, and she nodded.

  “Could you be happy forever and after with me?”

  She leaned forward and kissed him. “Perfectly happy. Forever and after.”

  Acknowledgments

  As Boot Creek, North Carolina, came to be, I’d like to thank those who helped me through the journey of this story. It would never have come to be without the help of so many people—friends old and new, family, and subject matter experts—willing to answer a million what-if questions. To name them all would be impossible, but know that whether you are called out by name or not, I appreciate you and your part in this special part of my life.

  Krista Stroever, your commitment to excellence and the mentorship you’ve given me through six books is such a gift that a thousand thank-yous are not enough. You rock and I hope we get to do many, many more together. To my amazing Montlake family—JoVon Sotak, Jessica Poore, Kelli Martin, and the whole gang—thank you for your support, agility, and innovation to help make this career the best move I’ve ever made. Big hugs and high fives!

  Thanks to Tracy March for always bringing the “fon” and for what seemed like endless brainstorming to get to the right title for this story.

  And to my new friend, Wilson. You brought balance and restored my faith in so many things, through the craziest of times, as I worked to finish this book. You were an unexpected gift. I might just be one of the luckiest girls around.

  Last, but not least, heartfelt gratitude goes out to all of the readers who’ve followed me from one story to the next. Thank you for sharing my books with your friends; spreading the word, the tweets, and Facebook moments; the fun pictur
es and notes; and even handing out Read. Relax. Repeat.® swag to help spread the word in this noisy place we live. All of you have had a part in making this Writer Girl’s dream come true.

  I hope this story gives back some of the joy, faith, and love that y’all have shared with me. Hugs and happy reading.

  About the Author

  Photo © 2013 Clements Mayes Photography

  Nancy Naigle writes love stories from the crossroads of small town and suspense. Life After Perfect is her tenth novel. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys antiquing, cooking, and spa days with her friends.

  A native of Virginia, Nancy now calls North Carolina home.